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Fantastic Mugboo. Everything you said made sense to me. And everyone is fitter than me as I’ve not ridden in a few years.
The levo was the bike I thought I wanted and deep down that’s what I still want. Are spesh holding out on expanding the range? It’s either bottom or top - they used to have, comp, expert, etc with Alu frame and better kit.
Their rep for aftercare is good too, but my two local dealers can’t even answer an email within two weeks. How long would I be waiting if I had a serious issues with the bike.
I checked out the Cotic. Looks like a home made e-bike. Read all of Cy’s blurb too. He protests too much 🤣
Then there’s the price. Sorry but no.
Never had a problem with Specialized aftercare when me or the family have needed it.
Youngest daughter is out in NZ. Got knocked off her Enduro coming back from the trails in a bike lane by a hit and run driver. Smashed the rear triangle with his bull bar. Bike was back up and running free of charge by local dealer.
My motor sounded a bit noisy out in Finale last month. Contacted local dealer when we got back. Turned out to be vibration from a cracked motor mount.
New motor sorted and back up and running for our next trip on Thursday.
I picked up a 6 month old Levo SL alloy for £1900 a week or so ago. Some S/H pricing is wishful thinking.
it’s awesome, three decent rides in. Went out this morning for a power hour to see how long the battery would last in turbo. Got home with 4% left. 90mins, 25km, 600m of climbing at an 17km/h average. Same loop takes me 30% longer normally.
@minus-6; i happen to know that Niall had a stock Mondraker Sly, which is the same as my Neat, but with the Bosch motor and an Alu frame. I’ve just had two days in Dyfi bike park on my Neat. I’ve had some lovely bikes in my time, but the Neat is by far the best feeling bike I’ve ever ridden. Im not sure, but I think the Sly is the same geo, just in Alu. My Neat is 150/160mm. But it feels plusher than 180mm bikes I’ve owned.
@minus-6: I pm-d you with Niall’s number if you want to ask him.
Don Skene in Cardiff ships AMFlows at quite a rate and is very enthusiastic about them and their support.
Was trying to persuade me to buy one but I've picked up a 2024 Levo SL Expert on sale at Leisure Lakes in Newport instead - didn't want the power of the AMFlow or the temptation to use it, would rather stick with tryng to eek out range on minimal assistance with more available if needed for climbs when I want to avoid prolonged very high heart rates.
I don’t know how other dealers work but when I bought my Levo I got it from my LBS and bought the base model but had them swap the fork for a Lyrik RC2 (this was before Zebs and 38s existed), the brakes for Hope V4s and add a dropper, and they did me a good deal on it as a package.
The stock shock has been brilliant and I wore the drivetrain out fairly quickly, swapped the bars and stem from another bike I was selling and upgraded the wheels after a few years and used the old ones on a hardtail when I upsized to 29.
I presume it’s still a similar thing now, where to get a great fork and brakes (which are my top priorities) you have to spend a ton on one of the top spec models which gets you a carbon frame, fancier (electric?) gears and bling wheels, none of which I want!
(The stock shock tune on my old Levo was good for proper riding if you’re middling speed and size - I understand later ones are specced more for comfort, like how some ebike forks have softer compression tunes, which I wouldn’t want).
So i'm thinking of buying an e-bike -
- this is local to me, which is to me a positive, and seems like a good deal.
Would anyone like to talk me into, or out of, buying it?
It'd be for home to Cannock Chase (bit over 5km or so) -> mix of off-piste and established trails (20 to 30km or so, maybe another 10km max) -> back home (5 to 10 km or so), probably using higher setting on the ups, less so elsewhere (i really have no 'base' upon which ground these).
No carbon due to not wanting to have to buy a new frame if it fell over
I think that’s a perceived problem rather than an actual issue
came to second the WHyte Elyte evo,
Gen5 Bosch CX (Full power and the new boost) and lifetime warranty carbon but without the range extender battery around 19kg
Gen5 Bosch CX (Full power and the new boost) and lifetime warranty carbon but without the range extender battery around 19kg
I think ebike weight is a massive red herring used as marketing BS to try and get people to buy a bike without trying them.
my Orbea Rise weighs 20.5kg with 160/150mm and big heavy 'enduro' tyres and a 630wh battery. If I put some less burley tyres on I could get it down another Kg. If I was to have bought the 420wh battery that would have been another Kg off. But then the bike would be good for XC not everything I can throw at it.
I know its a cliche on here, but test ride as many as you can and buy the one that you think rides the best. I didnt like the Whyte, it wasnt bad, just didnt do it for me. I loved the Levo SL (not latest gen), but the poor battery performance and motor wasnt for me. The best fit for me was the Orbea Rise (even though build quality is shite)
Now that the Amflow is out that would be on my test ride list without a doubt. I would still discount it though if I didnt like the ride, even though it has loads of power
Now that the Amflow is out that would be on my test ride list without a doubt.
I'm in a bit of a quandry about that. I test rode a gen 4 Levo a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it. My LBS is a Specialized dealer too.
I want to buy one, but a small part of me is wondering whether I should test ride an Amflow as well...
I dont have an ebike myself but Mrs SSS has 2 (Cube - Bosch and Specialized).
My biking mate however has just bought an AMFLOW. And its a very good bit of kit. We were in the forest together and i was on my normal hardtaid and he gave me a shot. Very impressive - as i have ridden Mrs SSS ebaike myself occasionally.
So if i were in the market for an eBike, the AMFLOW would be on my list for sure.
The only thing i would be wondering about is longevity/suport/fixability. Mrs SSS specialized is on her 2nd motor. It got replaced 2 weeks before the warranty ran out during a firmware update where they found a fault - no quibbles/no hassle.
One has to ask if youd get that kind of backup with the AMFLOW
Very impressive - as i have ridden Mrs SSS ebaike myself occasionally.
But was it impressive because of the power or how it rode, or both?
Motor power can give you a false impression of a bike. The bit people enjoy biking for is the twisty bits and downs. The novelty of power does wear off. (although great to have)
I think ebike weight is a massive red herring used as marketing BS to try and get people to buy a bike without trying them.
@funkydunc, I see your point but this bike is my misses' bike, so when the bike weighs more than a third of her body weight it makes things more tiring for her on long days, and worse for me when I have to lift it over the styles for her 🤣
Impressive with the handling, the power delivery and the feel. However the caveat is it was on dry dusty forest trails (mildy rooty). You could tell it had more power.
How would it perform in the damp/wet and in other scenarios and the differing power control modes? I dont know.
Im not in the market for an eBike. But if i were - and how my mate was waxing lyrical about it - id consider one....
I had a spin on an Amflow around some of my local trails and really liked how it handled, it might not be long enough and super slack enough for the enduroGnar crowd, but it seemed perfectly fine on the tight loose mini DH stuff I was riding. I don’t put it in Ludicrous Speed mode as that would have involved too much plaid!
I think ebike weight is a massive red herring used as marketing BS to try and get people to buy a bike without trying them.
@funkydunc, I see your point but this bike is my misses' bike, so when the bike weighs more than a third of her body weight it makes things more tiring for her on long days, and worse for me when I have to lift it over the styles for her 🤣
If it helps, I have just bought a used Merida e-one sixty for my daughter who is around 38 kg so the bike is a significant portion of her body weight. We have done 20,000 plus feet of climbing and fast descending on it this week, including lots of steep, twisty trails. Compared to her much much lighter Neuron, she found it minimal effort to hustle downhill quickly, her thoughts being that the weight made it more stable so she didn’t get pinged about on really rough stuff. She absolutely loves it and I really don’t want her going any faster on a bike 🤣 😆
Her weight does have one big disadvantage, even with me on a more powerful bike, she is notably quicker than me up steep hills. That hurts. Mainly my legs as I try to keep up 🤣
Even if the ebike weighs ~25Kg, someone weighing 38Kg is going to fly up steep hills, in max turbo 250W assistance they will be getting ~4W/Kg just from the motor under 15.5mph before they add 80W+ of their own and could easily be matching Pog and Vin at over 7W/Kg!😱
Even if the ebike weighs ~25Kg, someone weighing 38Kg is going to fly up steep hills, in max turbo 250W assistance they will be getting ~4W/Kg just from the motor under 15.5mph before they add 80W+ of their own and could easily be matching Pog and Vin at over 7W/Kg!😱
Don’t I just know it 🤣 and for someone so light she can generate some serious power, enough to do backflips and aerials gymnastics style! She has always excelled at sprinting on the bike. Little toad.
Southern Ireland here. Try your local Giant dealer, there are serious offers on the Reign E+ to be had. Bought a 22MY Reign for 50% off last year. Have put up about 1500km on it and it has been great. Yamaha motor is solid, range is decent, good geometry and they are just a good no-nonsense option. I’m 105kg and not had a single issue they are rock solid in terms of build. 2023 model with 800wh battery, fox 38 performance elite and GX AXS shifting can be found reduced online
https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/giant-reign-e-1-2023-electric-bike